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Youd be hard pressed to find a man whos had a greater impact on baseball over the past 40 years. Tevin Coleman Falcons Jersey . Were not talking about Hank Aaron, or Bob Gibson or Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken Jr. or Barry Bonds. Were talking about Dr. Frank Jobe who passed away Thursday night at the age of 88. He is the surgeon who pioneered the ulnar collateral ligament transplant surgery that saved so many elbows and prolonged the careers of so many players, pitchers and position players alike. Dr. Jobe first performed his landmark surgery in 1974. He was actually in the stands watching at Dodger Stadium when Tommy John, for whom the operation will forever be known, blew out his elbow in a game against the Expos. John was out of action for 18 months after the surgery. But he not only returned, he flourished. Tommy John was named Comeback Player of the Year in 1976 and went on to win another 164 games with the Dodgers and Yankees before retiring at age 46. He finnished with 288 victories and a 3.34 ERA. He appeared in three All-Star Games after his surgery. He was never the best pitcher of his generation or anything close to that, but his career numbers and the fact he rebounded from this operation the way he did should in the Hall of Fame in my mind. Just how important has this operation been? Well before last season, 124 of the 360 pitchers on the opening day rosters had undergone at least one "Tommy John". Its not just the pitchers though, whove gone through this career-saving surgery. Carl Crawford, Rafael Furcal, ex-Jay Kelly Johnson and current Jays catching prospect A.J Jimenez have all undergone this elbow surgery. The first Blue Jays pitcher I could find who had the operation was David Wells back in 1985. But the list grows from there. Jimmy Key in 1988, former skipper John Farrell in 1991 while he was pitching for Cleveland and the list goes on. You have Billy Koch, A.J Burnett while he was with Florida, Jason Frasor who had it done twice, B.J. Ryan in 2007, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum, Josh Johnson while with Florida and Chris Carpenter with St. Louis in 2007. All owe their careers to Dr. Jobe and those surgeons who have followed his trailblazing path. The disturbing thing is the way elbow injuries have increased. There were 24 documented "Tommy John" surgeries in 2013, including those of Mets star pitching prospect Matt Harvey and Blue Jays journeyman pitcher Ramon Ortiz, who underwent the operation for a second time. But the worst year by far was 2012, when there were 46 "Tommy Johns" including four to Blue Jays Drew Hutchison, Kyle Drabek, his second, Luis Perez and the aforementioned A.J. Jimenez. There are two known pitchers who actually had three elbow ligament transplant surgeries. Jose Rijo who helped spark the Reds to victory in the 1990 World Series and Jason Isringhausen, who turned from a top starting prospect with the Mets to a standout reliever later in his career. Rijo is truly a remarkable story. After being named an All-Star with the Reds in 1995, he suffered a serious elbow injury and was out of the game for five full seasons. He finally battled back in 2001 as a reliever with Cincinnati. It was said after three "Tommy John" surgeries and two other arm operations, his elbow had almost no ligament left. But ironically, the arthritis in his elbow, the scar tissue and the fact he had built up the muscles in his forearm to such an extent, he was still able to throw against all odds. Rijo retired in 2002 but not before winning the final ball game ever played at old Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. One pitcher who doesnt need to worry about his ulnar collateral ligament is Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Thats because he was born without one. Like Rijo, Dickey has defied the odds with many a doctor saying Dickey shouldnt be able to pitch without that ligament in his elbow. Yet two years ago, he won the Cy Young Award with the Mets and is still going strong with the Blue Jays at 39. At least 85 per cent of "Tommy John" patients make a complete recovery and in most cases, their elbows are stronger than ever. However, there are some who dont make it all the way back. Blue Jays closer B.J Ryan was never the same after his surgery in 2007 and was out of the game within a couple of years. But cases like that are the exception rather than the rule and the game would be a pale shadow of itself without the medical marvels of Dr. Frank Jobe. As a footnote, we should also mention Dr. Jobe pioneered a surgical technique on another Dodgers star, Orel Hershiser. It was a less invasive shoulder procedure that reduced the risk of collateral damage to the shoulder structure and sped up the recovery time. This and That Phillies infielder Freddy Galves will one day be the answer to a trivia question. On Thursday, he became the first player to hit a home run off the Yankees Japanese phenom Masahiro Tanaka. I try not to get too caught up in the struggles of pitchers in spring training since theyre often just working on command or one specific pitch but Ive got to admit on Wednesday, I was a little bit concerned when Brandon Morrow gave up five runs on six hits over three innings to the Pirates. Then I noticed on the same day, White Sox ace Chris Sale gave up six runs on six hits and a walk in just 2-2/3 innings against the Padres. Then, the Cubs Jeff Samardzija surrendered three runs on four hits in three innings in a 7-5 loss to Colorado. At that point, I realized its too early to be making hard judgements. Ra Shede Hageman Super Bowl Jersey . "Im going to send Webbie a six-pack (of beer) tonight," she said. Webb wasnt sure that would help. "Ill probably drink one and go to sleep," the Australian veteran said. The two players set up a Sunday showdown between former BC champions after finishing off their third rounds with identical birdies over three of the last five ........... Saturday to separate themselves slightly from the rest of the crowded leaderboard. Vic Beasley Super Bowl Jersey .Then came December.Three straight losses, including a crushing 27-24 defeat to Washington (4-11) on Saturday, has the Eagles (9-6) on the brink of playoff elimination. http://www.falconsapparelsshop.com/tyson-jackson-falcons-jersey-c-44/ . Ramirez is still hitting behind Puig, only now they are in the third and fourth spots, and the change is starting to generate positive results for manager Don Mattingly. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Robinson Cano picked a grand time to break the Yankees out of their offensive slump. The second baseman went deep off Luke Hochevar with the bases loaded in the third inning on Sunday, and Nick Swisher followed with a solo shot two batters later, giving New York plenty of offence in a 10-4 rout of the Kansas City Royals. Alex Rodriguez added a three-run shot in the eighth inning, helping the Yankees to a four-game split. The series began with a freak, season-ending injury to All-Star closer Mariano Rivera, but ended with the Yankees best offensive output in a dozen games. "Great to see that from the middle of the order," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We know what these guys are capable of doing and eventually its going to come." The Yankees already led on RBI singles by Raul Ibanez and Curtis Granderson when Cano came to the plate with the bases loaded in the third inning. He connected on a 2-1 pitch from Hochevar (2-3), sending the ball over the wall in right field for his second homer of the season. Swisher added a solo shot two batters later, and A-Rods homer came in the eighth. "It took a huge day by Robbie to get us back on track," Swisher said. "Its just what we needed. These guys have been doing it their entire careers. Were not stressed about it." Phil Hughes (2-4) took advantage of the run support to go a season-high 6 2-3 innings. It was only the second time the right-hander had allowed fewer than four runs this season. The Royals had nine hits, but couldnt put them together for a big inning. "I kind of got into a groove after the second inning," Hughes said. "The few times there were guys in scoring position, I was able to execute my pitches and get out of jams." Billy Butler provided an RBI double in the first, Alex Gordon added a run-scoring single in the fifth, and Humberto Quintero snapped a 0-for-18 skid with a solo homer in the seventh. Jarrod Dyson tacked on an RBI single in the ninth. That was all the Royals could muster. The Yankees had been having a similarly hard time scoring lately. They managed a combined 11 runs over the past five games, their worst stretch since June 2009, and were coming off a game in which Derek Jeter, Cano, Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira combined to go 1 for 15 at the plate. They didnt have much problem against Hochevar. The Royals former No. 1 overall draft pick was battered for the second straightt start, his ERA soaring to 9. Robert Alford Jersey. 00 on the season. He was yanked after 2 1-3 innings, and has allowed 16 runs and 19 hits with four walks and a hit batter his past two starts. "I need to get back to square one and figure it out and get things going," he said, "and start helping this club and not be putting us in a ..................... early in the game." Hochevar got in trouble right from the opening pitch, giving up a leadoff single to Jeter, who reached base four times on the afternoon. But the Yankees didnt really capitalize until the third inning, when their bats finally awoke with a vengeance. No. 9 hitter Dewayne Wise started a string of three straight base hits, and Grandersons RBI single was the 1,000th hit of his career. Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to the ................ the bases for Cano, who delivered his first grand slam since last September against Baltimore. Cano has five grand slams in his past 78 games, regular and post-season combined. "You look at his at-bats today and they were really good," Girardi said. "We know hes a little behind where we expected him to be at this time of the year, but hes not the only hitter in Major League Baseball thats a little behind. Hell catch up." Swisher, who had the Yankees other slam this season, chased Hochevar when he sent a 1-2 pitch into the seats in right two batters later. Swisher had been out since hurting his hamstring last Sunday against Detroit, but looked just fine trotting around the bases at Kauffman Stadium. "It was just nice to be back in there," he said. Irving Falu provided the Royals with perhaps the only bright spot on the day. Falu had spent more than nine years and 949 games in the minor leagues before getting his first major league start at shortstop. He tripled in his first at-bat, and then added a single in the fifth inning, coming around to score on Gordons base hit. "It was great to see him and get a triple in his first major league at-bat," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "And then get another base hit, play great defence at shortstop. That was a real positive note." Notes: Andy Pettitte pitched five innings and allowed five runs, three earned, on eight hits Sunday for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Yankees Triple-A affiliate. Pettitte could join the major league roster this week. ... New York is off Monday before starting a six-game homestand against Tampa Bay. ... LHP Jonathan Sanchez starts for Kansas City on Monday night against Boston. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '